1531476 Reginald James DOGGETT, Royal Artillery: POW

Here's a little project I've been pondering. There are a number of separate threads, feel free to pull on any that you can.

I've finally got my hands on a photo album bought at auction last year. Provenance is hazy, but it appears to belong to the man mentioned above: Gnr. Reg (presumably 'Reginald') Doggett.

The point of interest to me is that this man served with 26 Field Regt R.A. in TAMPIN (Malaya) in the early 1950s and the collection shows a number of pictures of his and his comrades' lives in camp and in the jungle. As some of you might recall, my grandfather served with 25 Field Regt and his field battery, 54 (Maharajapore) Bty was attached to 26 Field Regt during this period. The images are very small, but the resolution is good, so they 'blow up' quite well.

Here's two for flavour:





Tipped in with the album came a few articles of paperwork and some photographs of relatives, but also a few separate images of our man. The surprise to me (the collection was described as 'Malaya') was that the album stretched beyond the regiment's stint in the Far East and into their time in HOMS (Syria) and later Egypt. It looks as though Gnr. Doggett was transferred to the reserve (and left the army) on 5 Sept 1952. I have both regimental and battery diaries for this post-war period, but this man features in none of them.

When onboard the Empire Trooper:






The tantalising part is that tucked into the final page are some images from an earlier period, one, as you can see, sent to his parents from STALAG XVIII A, which suggests two possibilities: either there is an earlier period of his service about which I know nothing (a period during the Second World War), or he worked there in the period 1945-48, during which it was run by British occupation forces as an internment camp for Nazis and war criminals.

See:
Stalag XVIII-A - Wikipedia

I'm erring towards option one as the camp was renamed Camp 373, but there's the possibility that this was sent very soon after the war, I suppose. Perhaps I'm wrong, but if I were taking photographs, I wouldn't pick that one to send home to Mum; I'd guess he was a prisoner. There is a code of some kind and a stamp, neither of which mean anything to me; I'd be grateful if anybody could shed some light. Confusingly, the page at which the setting changes from Malaya to North Africa and the Middle-East bears the inscription (I think): "I have been here so long that is feels like home"--In German!? Could he have learnt a little of the language while in captivity, or is this a famous quotation of which I am unaware? Does Doggett feature in any PW lists?



FRONT:


BACK:


Finally, as a complete sideline, one of Reg Doggett's friends or relatives seems to have been an RAF man (I think). There are two or three images of him in uniform examining Luftwaffe wreckage (in the UK?). Is anybody able to add anything about him (or the aeroplane in which he is posing)?




Detail:

(I know nothing about RAF uniforms--what do his patches denote?)

Thanks in advance, fellow detectives.
"Charley"

 

I now have his DOB: 1531476 R J Doggett Royal Artillery 30/09/1916

From here:
Information From WO416 - a Freedom of Information request to National Archives

And his WO-416 Card (although I'm not 100% clear what that is). He seems to have first arrived in this camp on 31/7/42.

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/requ.../attach/3/attachment.pdf?cookie_passthrough=1

I will laugh heartily if this chase brings me back to 'First Alamein' and 4th Indian Div!

He seems to have given some kind of statement regarding a war crime:



Source:
The Colditz Myth
Stalag 18A, 17574 Work Camp, Tanzeldorf, Austria: killing of Australian POWs | The National Archives

 

I have his GSM for auction here:

GENERAL SERVICE 1918-62 (5), two clasps, Palestine 1945-48, S.E. Asia 1945-46 ( Pte. G.E. Duncale, A.C.C. ); two clasps, Palestine 1945-48, Malaya ( Pte. L. Every, R. Hamps.; L. Bdr. R.J. Doggett, R.A.; L.A.C. J. Maher, R.A.F. ), first with second cl...

Two clasps: Palestine 1945-48 & Malaya. Interestingly, he was at the rank of L/Bdr. at some stage; my grandfather also held that rank and reverted to Gnr on leaving Malaya.

 

R J Doggett in the UK, British Prisoners of War, 1939-1945
Name: R J Doggett
Rank: Gunner
Army Number: 1531476
Regiment: Royal Artillery
POW Number: 4172
Camp Type: Stalag
Camp Number: XVIII-A
Camp Location: Wolfsberg, Austria
Record Office: Royal Artillery (Light Anti-Aircraft) Record Office, Ibex House, The Minories, London, EC3
Record Office Number: 6

TD

 

I forgot to include the picture of Reg Doggett's friend or relative (brother or cousin would seem likely):

 

Me, neither.

A coconut for anybody who can oblige!

 

154/52 LAA regiment missing 28/4/41

I claim my coconut

 

Missed saying Greece

 

Which allows me to find these photos here:

1731/L, Spitz [They have 'mine' from above]

266/L, Schloss Brunsee

 

Looks as if these may be required:

WO 169/327 Royal Artillery: 52 Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment 1940 (Aug.- Dec.)
WO 169/1640 52 Light Anti-Aircraft (LAA) Regiment 1941 (Jan.- Dec.)
WO 169/4893 52 Light Anti-Aircraft (LAA) Regiment 1942 (Jan.- Dec.)

 

So it's looking likely he was taken prisoner at Argos in Greece.

I'm going to attempt to dig into that.

 

The gods really are smiling today. I have a 'capture narrative' of a man with 154/52 LAA Regt. They went into captivity at about 22:00 on 28/4/41. The poor chap had a long old time in which to learn German, it seems.

And - drumroll - they were taken to Stalag XVIII-A!

I was conscripted into the army on 18th April 1940 and after a short period of training at Blandford Army Camp Dorset, I was posted to a Lancashire Regiment 154 Battery 52nd Light ack ack (Bofor guns) and on 9thSeptember I was in Egypt and still hadn’t seen a Bofor’s gun. We were then sent to Greece and were stationed to guard an airfield just outside Athens. When the Germans attacked we were told to move to a port called Argos where we were bombed continually by Stuka’s, eventually we ran out of ammunition and we were told to ‘blow’ our guns. There were ships anchored about ½ mile from the quay waiting to take us off however we had to take our turn to be ferried in flat bottomed boats out to them. I got into one of them at about 5.00 am and we were about half way out to them when they all up-anchored and sailed away.

When we returned to shore we were told to go to ‘T’ beach, as far south as we could go (Kalamata) where boats would come in on 28th or 29th April. It was on that long walk that I came across a sailor who was soaking wet and shivering so I gave him my greatcoat, but I unfortunately forgot that I had a tin of bully beef in one of my pockets and I had lost sight of the chap. We got to ‘T’ beach about 8.30 in the morning of 28th and at about 9.30 the first Germans turned up and commenced sniping us, most of the Germans were paratroopers.

This little village, which is what it was, was located at the foot of a hill and there were about 3000 of us there besides the inhabitants. We had about 100 rifles between the lot of us, so we were hoping that the ships would hurry and turn up. However they didn’t turn up that night so we had to keep our heads down and hope for tomorrow. However the 29th only brought more sniping from the hill above the village and we were just hanging on hoping that the ships would come that night, but they never did. The Germans that night sent a captured Brigadier under a flag of truce, with a message stating that if we didn’t surrender they would bomb the village together with the villagers until it was flattened; so about 10.00 that night the Brigadier marched us out into captivity.

Continues at length:
Charlie Fairman​

 

Interesting. It could be a coincidence, but I have this

No. 4 Service Flying Training School, Saskatoon, SK

19-6-41 Flying day and night. Crane 7680 (Pilot: F/O Thompson, R. W. - Student - L.A.C. Doggett, A. A. Course 30) crashed at Osler aerodrome, while practicing circuits and landings. Collapse of starboard oleo leg. League games between R.C.A.F. teams and city teams took place. Softball, R.C.A.F. (8) vs. K. of C. (2); Baseball, R.C.A.F. (8) vs. Cubs (9); R.C.A.F. personnel from the Bombing and Gunnery School visited the station and engaged in a scoreless gamr of football. After a tour of the station they returned to Dafoe by bus.

27-6-41 Flying day and night. Crane 7704 crashed at Osler Aerodrome. Pilot: L.A.C. Doggett uninjured. Aircraft during landing went up on wing tip and nosed to ground with considerable force breaking both engines. The semi-monthly mess dinner was held and the outride guests present were, Mr. R. F. Strickland, Prof. Hopkins of the Faculty of Law, University of Saskatchewan, and Major Angus McNeil.

A brother learning to fly overseas?

 

And to do the man justice, here's a clear picture of him in better days (Tampin).



On the premise that the RAF man is a brother, is anybody (AB64 if he's not had his fill of coconut) able to investigate FMP for a man named DOGGETT from POLEGATE/SUSSEX, perhaps at L.A.C. or similar rank during the war or shortly after?

 

It doesn't get us very far, I admit, but here's a current image of his family home, 'Delcote' in Dittons Road, Polegate (property centre).

I was trying to match it with photographs of some of his relatives in the back garden, but extensions have been built to the back and sides of the house.